Once Again
by aquamoonlight234
Summary: A longtime...crush? love? story. Based on true events.
1. Default Chapter

_A star falls over the horizon_

_blinding the night sky_

_amid these ambient swirls_

_angels song rise-_

Conan stopped his song and stared at the girl sitting beside him.

"Astra? Hello? You're not listening to me, are you?"

Starting, the petite raven-haired girl blinked and looked at him. "Um…sorry, I was zoning out. What were you saying?"

He sighed and set down his lute. "Never mind. Obviously we're not making any progress here." Removing a soft linen cloth from his bag, he began wrapping his instrument up, taking care not to twang the strings as he did so. "Just remember your lines for the performance, okay?"

She nodded as he stood up. "Don't worry, I will."

"I _hope_ you will." He stared at her for a moment with an odd look on his face before walking away.

Astra remained sitting on the ledge of the fountain, watching his retreating back. _These feelings…why do I still have them? _Jumbled thoughts swirled through her head, as she remembered the slightly rumpled hair that framed his face, his large dark eyes. _How can I still like him? Isn't it obvious that…he likes Gilda?_ Her shoulders slumped as she thought about the events of the past few weeks. Both she and Conan had spent their summers away from home at intensive training camps for their selected jobs; Conan had attended a three week program at the School of Music in Comodo, and she had spent five weeks training and studying in Geffen under one of the highest ranking mages in all of Rune-Midgard, Moira Descartes. Now that they had returned, they were expected to present to their community what they had learned; Conan had convinced her to sing to a song he had composed, as the magic she had learned wasn't safe to use in the community.

A gentle breeze blew by and played with her long, black hair while she pondered. Astra had known Conan for 3 years now, and during all that time, her feelings for him had never changed. Perhaps they had grown, but that didn't change things. From the day she met him, she had fallen hard for his boyish features and quiet misdemeanor. The fact that he was younger than her did nothing to dampen or dissuade her feelings; after all, he was much taller than her, and by no means more immature than herself. It was only a few months difference, anyhow.

"BOO!"

Surprised by the loud noise in her ear, Astra fell over backwards into the fountain with a loud splash. As she sat up, she saw a Gilda standing there laughing.

"Ahahahahaha…you look…so funny!" She squeaked as she laughed, making Astra wince and clasp her ears in annoyance.

"Gilda…"

Astra sighed as she stood up, and looked down in dismay at her now soaked robes. Glaring at her friend, she clasped her hands together and spoke,

"Fire Wall!"

Flames rose from the ground and engulfed her small frame, quickly drying her clothes and hair. After a few moments, the wall disappeared without a trace, save some trials of smoke which quickly floated away.

"What was _that_ for anyways?"

The young acolyte stopped giggling and tried to keep a straight face as she answered, "Well…you were just _sitting_ there with this really weird look on your face. It was too good of an opportunity to miss. Besides, it was the _funniest _thing to see you soaked. You looked like a…a…a drowned cat!" She erupted into giggles again, unable to contain herself.

Astra rolled her eyes, annoyed, but knowing she couldn't do anything to her provoker; she knew if she did, Gilda would run around spreading stories that she had been unnecessarily attacked by Astra, which would ultimately, get back to their superiors. Which wouldn't be a good thing; it never was.

Gilda managed to stop laughing, saying, "Anyways…I came over to ask if you knew where Conan went."

Astra shrugged. "No idea. Why?"

"Nothing, nothing…I just need to talk to him, that's all." She smirked as she said this, and watched the mage smooth her robes. "Actually, I need to talk to _you_, too."

Astra stared at her. _Why does she want to talk to me? Doesn't she want to go find Conan?_ Ever since Conan's return from Comodo, Gilda had been spending a lot of time with him, which seemed a little odd to Astra-after all, before the summer, the two of them had barely spoken. Then again, Conan _had_ changed; he was more vocal and outgoing and well…to be truthful, a lot more fun than he had been before.

"Um…okay. About what?"

Gilda giggled. "I was wondering…do you like anyone right now?"

"No…"

The two girls stared at each other, each trying to win in some unspoken battle. Finally, Gilda spoke up again.

"Are you _sure_? No one?"

"Very sure. There's no one around here worth liking, anyways."

"Not even…Conan?"

Astra's gaze narrowed as she glared at Gilda.

"I. Do. Not. Like. Conan."

One of the things Astra hated about knowing Gilda, was that the two had grown up together; and up until a few months ago, Astra had told Gilda almost everything. Which meant that she knew about her longtime crush on Conan. Of course, Gilda had no idea that Astra still liked him-she hadn't told the acolyte anything since her return from Geffen. One thing Moira had taught her was to keep her thoughts to herself; the most important rule to being an effective mage, she had said, was to be able to be always keep your enemies in suspense. Never let them know what you were thinking; never let them be able to predict your actions. Astra had taken her words to heart; after all, Moira wasn't one of the greatest wizards in Rune-Midgard for no reason. So there was no way she was ever going to let anyone know her weakness-especially not Gilda.

Gilda grinned and peered at Astra. "If you don't like him, then why are you smirking?"

Astra rolled her eyes. "If you want to know _that_, try looking in a mirror. Your hair is… really amusing."

"WHAT? NOOOOOO!!! WHAT'S WRONG WITH IT??" Gilda panicked, and dug through her wide acolyte pockets, attempting to find her mirror. While she did so, Astra grinned to herself and sparked Gilda's hair with a miniscule amount of electricity; the acolyte's hair became static, and floated around her head.

"Oh. My. GOSH!" Gilda moaned as she looked into her mirror. "My...my hair!" Running to the fountain, the acolyte took a few drops of water and smoothed her hair, fussing with the ends as she stared into her mirror.

"So, Astra," began Gilda, "about Conan…"

She stopped short and looked around confusedly. "What? Where'd…"

Astra was nowhere to be seen.


	2. Night

Stormclouds were gathering later that night as Astra slipped into her new silk robe and hurried to the town center. As she walked, the runes enchanted onto her robe faintly glowed in the streetlight. She shivered slightly, for a cold wind was beginning to start up. Turning the corner onto the main road, she heard someone call out,

"Hey! Astra! Wait up!"

She stopped and waited as a small female archer ran up and hid behind her. "Quick! Cast something so he can't get to me!" She shrieked and ducked down as a much taller silhouette moved towards them, calling out,

"Sorcha! Where _are _you? Give it back!"

"Sight!"

A small ball of fire began to circle the young mage and the archer behind her, illuminating the area around them as the figure approached them.

"Who-" she stopped short as Conan emerged from the darkness, panting and looking annoyed. He squinted at her for a moment before looking away.

"Hi Astra. Could you turn that thing off? I can barely look at you while it's up. Oh, and…have you seen Sorcha anywhere?"

She smiled.

"No, I haven't. And I can barely see _without_ this thing, so it's staying. Why do you need to find Sorcha? What'd she do this time?"

"She took-" he stopped. "It's no big deal. Nevermind. So um…you're headed over to the center right now?"

She began nodding, then slowly started shaking her head. "Well, I was. I just remembered, I left something at home though. So I need to go get it. From home, that is. Uh…yeah." She bit her lower lip. _What the? I sound like such an idiot!_

Conan shuffled his feet a little, and looked around. "Want me to walk you or anything?"

_Weird. Why's he being so nice?_ Conan had never so much as lifted a finger to help her before. Usually he was too busy avoiding her; or, more recently, laughing at her and teasing her about things.

"Nah, that's okay. I'm good. Thanks for offering, though."

He nodded slowly. "Guess I'll see you there then." Turning, he waved and walked away.

Astra let out a big sigh. _That was…weird. Although it would have been nice to walk with him…_ Her thoughts trailed off as Sorcha stood up and laughed.

"Heehee; I win again!" The young archer smirked, and began playing with the belt slung around her shoulder, used to carry her arrows. "Wanna see?"

The mage had to grin as Sorcha pulled a scroll from her pocket.

"You stole his mail?"

Sorcha tried not to laugh.

"No, I just…borrowed it. But look at it!"

Astra hesitated as she held the scroll. Surely it wasn't right…no, then again, this was Sorcha. As much as she loved to play her pranks, she would never intentionally harm someone. _After all_ she thought, _Sorcha **is** his adopted sister._ At that, she opened the scroll and glanced down at the page.

The soft parchment was covered with drawings; people sitting together, laughing. Different handwritings filled the rest of the page:

"Conan! Send me a copy of these pictures already!"

"We need to get together again, and soon!"

"Hey, can't wait until next year. It was…absolutely amazing. Too bad you live so far away-come visit me sometime. Love and miss you too."

Her eyes fixed on the last comment, spinning through her head. _Love and miss you too._ There were several signatures on the bottom of the page, and she quickly scanned them to find the one whose handwriting matched the comment above; it was a girls writing, and easily stood out. _Juliet_, with a heart around it.

Astra looked up at Sorcha. "Dude…what _is_ this?"

Sorcha grinned. "He's been exchanging pictures and drawings and letters and notes and stuff to all the friends he met in Comodo. He's _obsessed_ with them. It's all he talks about." She made a face. "Comodo this, Music School that. It's starting to get a little old, but he seems to be pretty happy with it."

The mage looked down at the page again, staring at Juliet's name, before rolling it up and handing it back to Sorcha. "Interesting."

Sorcha grinned again and stuck it back in her pocket. "So…what did you need to get from home?"

Astra erupted into giggles.

"You _idiot!_ I don't need to get anything from home…that was just to hide you, silly."

The streets rang with the pair's laughter as they headed towards town center.


End file.
